Arne Store was one of the first Norwegian journalists to travel across the Kola Peninsula in the early 1990ies, not only to report home about news and everyday life in the Russian north, but also to establish professional relations with colleagues at news desks in Murmansk.
Arne Store was for many years the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s regional reporter in Kirkenes and became an national recognized voice in radio and TV with news from the border areas of the High North.
Only a few months after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Arne Store decided to stay in Murmansk for longer periods, pioneering cross-border journalism across the formerly closed border. His successful teamwork with journalists from both GTRK Murman and Komsomolskaya Pravda triggered what later became the Barents Press network, consisting of journalists from the northernmost regions of all four member states in the Barents Region.
In the 80ties, he headed NRK Sapmi in Karasjok and continued throughout his career to voice indigenous peoples’ views in news programs. His last tweet was appropriately enough about the conflict between reindeer herding and the government’s intention to soften the regulations for snowmobile drivers in the wilderness.
After retiring some years ago, Arne Store continued to work as freelance journalist, both for his former employer NRK, but also for the two local newspapers in Kirkenes. In April this year, Arne played a key role in organizing the annual meeting of Barents Press in Kirkenes. The meeting became the largest ever international gathering of journalists in the Barents Region.
